Green
by Fairy Friend
Summary: Claire has everything she could possibly need, including a great boyfriend, Rick. But once she finds out about Karen, Rick's best friend, she suddenly realizes she may have some rivalry... and maybe she isn't living up to her standards.
1. New Years Eve

**(A/N) -** _Wow... it's been a LONG time since I've submitted anything to this site. I'm sure a lot of you may have forgotten me, or some of you don't even know me, but... well, I'm back and writing again. Let's hope I can actually STAY here._

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CHAPTER 1

As everybody stood outside the church on New Years Eve, I could only glance back at all the memories. It'd only been three years on the farm, and yet I'd got myself a fabulous boyfriend, Rick, a gorgeous house, three lovely chickens, Bach, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky, one loving dog, Scout, and a beautiful prize-winning horse, Trotter. Holding Rick's hand, I glanced at him lovingly. He was the greatest thing to ever happen to me, so loving and faithful. I couldn't imagine life without him.

Ever since the very first day that I'd come here, I figured romance would be one of the main paths in my life. Skidding my shoes across the cold pavement, the tiny Sakura flowers gracefully flying past my fair complexion, something had told me that good fortune was headed my way. Maybe it was the fact that, when I'd dropped a flower into her sacred pond, the Goddess said good luck would arrive, but nothing said love more than a quick trip to the Poultry Farm. That was when I'd first bought Bach, and it was also the very first time I'd met Rick.

"Rick!" Lillia's frail voice had squawked, "Our young farmer here wants to buy a chicken. Be a dear and go get one from the barn!" She let out a hack.

Moments later, I heard footsteps from above. Stumbling down the stairs, Rick tripped on the very last step and fell on his face. He got up and brushed off some dust on his knees and looked up at me, then Lillia, then reddened.

"S-sor, sorry about that," he stuttered. "I'm going to... just go get the, um, chicken now." Obviously embarrassed that he had tripped in front of a complete stranger, he darted out of the door, then returned moments later with a bag of chicken feed.

"Cluck... err, chicken's in the barn. Here's... here you go," he mumbled. He handed me the feed, then resumed his clumsy walking up the stairs. Lillia tittered, covering her fragile mouth with her hand.

"Oh, my Rick," she said. "He just can't talk to strangers." She coughed. "Please take care, and good luck on the farm!" I waved to her and made my way back to my own farm, taking the chicken with me. I named him Bach due to my obsession with classical music. After I started developing a crush on Rick (this was in mid-Summer) I had later found out that he, too, enjoyed listening to classical music, and after he told me that his favorite composer was Chopin, that was what I named my next chicken. I named my final chicken, Tchaikovsky, after my favorite composer.

I felt a gentle squeeze and tug on my hand and, drawing myself away from my favorite fantasy, looked over at him. He smiled, looked me in the eyes, and kissed me lightly, cupping my face in his hands.

"It's been a wonderful year, hasn't it, Claire?"

"Yeah," I replied, "I can only imagine how great next year will be." He kissed me again.

"I'm sure it'll be very eventful." I was sure it would be too.

The doors to the church opened, and everybody scattered in. People began chatting, children began running, and guardians were scolding. Rick and I walked over to the rows of seats and sat down. He hugged me tightly, tickling my back and a rush of joy spread throughout me.

"I'm gonna go and get myself a glass of punch," he whispered in my ear, releasing me from his arms. I smiled at him and waved, watching him go. He shot the breeze with many people, but there seemed to be one girl who particularly caught my interest. She had long brown hair, and I almost mistook her for Elli until she turned around. It was Karen, the girl who worked at the supermarket. I'd never actually talked with her, but I had purchased a few items here and there from the store. Arm in arm, she and Rick walked towards me. I smiled weakly.

"Hey, Claire, I want you to meet my best friend, Karen," Rick exclaimed, releasing his arm from hers. "I've told her so much about you that I think her head's going to explode."

"Hi," she said meekly, slightly laughing, shaking my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure meeting you too," I said back. "So, how long have you two known each other?"

"Ever since we were children," Karen replied immediately. "He and I used to make mud pies together and I'd try to get him to eat them." She let out a giggle. "Those were the good days." Rick joined in on the laughter.

"Yeah... remember the time that we made those paper boats that one night and we had a sailing contest to see who could win?"

"I remember that! You always lost!" Laughter resumed. I was sitting there, confused, and, quite frankly, I had no idea what was going on. Soon, their laughter simmered down and Rick let out a long sigh of relief.

"Well, anyway," he started, wiping a tear from his eye, "I just thought it'd be nice to get you two acquainted, y'know, having my two favorite gals getting along." Wait, I thought, did he just say that we were his two favorite gals? Meaning... Karen was his second favorite gal?

"It certainly was nice getting to know you, Claire," Karen said, smiling. "I think I'd better get back to my family before my mom starts to yell at me. Bye!" And with that, she was gone.

"What'd you think of Karen?" Rick asked me as soon as she'd gone.

"Her? Oh, yeah, she's... really nice," I mumbled. "Kinda pretty too."

"Yeah, she is. Her mom was always portrayed as Mineral Town's second goddess. Karen definitely gets her looks from her mom."

I glared a bit. "Well, what about me? Aren't I pretty?" As much as I hate to say it, I hate it when he talks about other girls being pretty.

"Of course you're pretty. You're the most beautiful girl ever, Claire." I smirked mildly. Typical response.

Nothing more was said between us. A few minutes later, Pastor Carter appeared from the confessional room and stood at the podium in front of us.

"Welcome, fellow villagers. I'm so glad you could join us at this frivolous moment. Has everybody had a great year?" Murmurs of agreement spread across the room. A few others mumbled quite unpleasant things.

"Good, good. Now, if you'll check your watches, we have about two minutes to the New Year. Thus, we'd like to invite Karen Greene up to the stage!" Pastor Carter motioned her forward. "She'll be singing a song she has been working on for the past few months now." As Karen stood up at the stage, I could only imagine what it would be like to sing in front of so many people. She looked so cool and confident, a smile to start out the song. Maria, the librarian in the village, rushed to the piano and started to pound in some chords as an introductory to the music.

Karen took a big breath and released her inner song. At first, it seemed as though a chorus of angels was flying above the church, haunting our souls, but of course, it was Karen's voice. She was definitely a stellar performance. Not only that, but the song was well planned out as well. The whole room looked as though they'd been hypnotised, Karen's voice being the soothing pendulum and the audience as the eye-popping, open-mouthed hypnotists. It was a wonderful minute-and-a-half performance, to say the least, and when Karen finished her song, the audience roared with applause and gave her a standing ovation. Rick followed the rest of the audience, and finally, everybody convinced me to stand. With tears in her eyes, Karen bowed graciously then departed from the stage. Pastor Carter walked back on.

"Wasn't that an amazing performance?" He announced. More applause arose from the audience. Rick was clapping wildly. It took a few seconds for the audience to simmer down.

"Now, to officially end New Years Eve, let us begin the countdown!"

Everybody started out with the usual chant. I didn't count, but I let my mind wander. "Ten..." Ten more seconds till the New Year. I can't believe it's going to be my fourth year on the farm. I hope it'll be a good one.

"Nine..." Gosh, Karen's voice was beautiful. She sang like an angel. Why am I thinking about this?

"Eight..." I sure wish I could sing like she can. I would do just about anything for that talent.

"Seven..." Rick sure seemed excited to see and hear his best friend up there. He seemed proud of her.

"Six..." No wonder they're best friends. I wouldn't mind being friends with somebody who has all that talent.

"Five..." I wonder if Rick thinks I'm talented. Does he think I have the ability to do these sorts of things?

"Four..." Does he even think I'm all that pretty, or is he just saying that to make me feel better about myself?

"Three..." Do I even think I'm that pretty, or that talented?

"Two..." I want to learn how to sing like Karen does.

"One..." One second until the New Year.

On the very last second, a bell chimed loudly in the air. Once again, a cheer rang through the church. So many thoughts were running through my head.

This was going to be an eventful year indeed.


	2. The Plan

_**(A/N) **– I don't know how many times I've had to apologize for updating late... and I'll do it again. I'm really sorry for the late update on this one. I promise I'll try to squeeze in a few days here and there set solely on fanfiction writing._

_For those of you waiting for this fanfic to get updated, enjoy the next chapter! (Sorry, it's a little bit short, I realize.)_

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**Chapter 2: The Plan  
By Fairy Friend**

_That voice... so pure and lovely._

I'd only gotten four hours of sleep that night due to an active mind. Even though I usually couldn't function properly on such little sleep, I was up and ready to go the next day. After I slid on something comfortable to wear, I ran outside to check on my chickens. Each one of them was normal and happy. I put some chicken feed in the feed bins then headed for Town Square for the New Years festival.

Rick was already there. In fact, mostly everybody was there. Rose Square, which was usually a desolate area of bricks and leaves, was thriving. The rich smell of Buckwheat Noodles made its way through my nose. I sighed. This festival was a time to relax and have fun and that was what I was here to do. As Rick, happy as could be, walked my way, all I could think about was last night.

_This was going to be an eventful year indeed._

"Hey, sweetheart," he said quietly, the words burning my face. He embraced me in a warm hug, then let go and placed his hands on my face. "You look a little down. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied. "I'm merely exhausted is all." A white lie.

"If you say so," he said with a hint of worry in his voice. "At least let me get you some noodles; it's the least I can do." Unable to decline his offer, I only nodded my head and watched him as he went by.

At that moment, I caught Karen out of the corner of my eye. My stomach churned and I wanted to puke. I was supposed to be having a good time and here I was, moping over a day lost in the past of time, something that shouldn't even matter to me. I watched the attractive brunette meander her way over to the Mayor just as Rick had gotten my bowl of noodles. Won's head turned and he grinned and blushed. I remembered clearly the day Karen had first visited his shop, although I hadn't known her very well back then.

"Free Service Time!" he had said as his "beauty" had walked in. "Right now, you can get any one item for free!"

"How great!" she chirped. "I think I'll take this." She took a bag of flower seedlings. "I'll make sure to come back!"

"Yes, please come back!" Won called out after her, grinning. Once the store door had closed, though, Won's once happy face became stern again, as it usually was.

"Free Service Time is OVER!" he shouted. "If you want something, you must pay!"

Once I'd finished reminiscing, Rick headed my direction with the noodles in hand. "Sorry I took so long," he called out to me. "I was chatting it up with Karen." He let out a laugh. "She told me that last night, she came across our old secret hideout that we'd found as kids."

"Great," I muttered. I wasn't about to let him drown me in his stories about her.

"Claire, is something troubling you?" Rick's eyes found mine. I couldn't look into them.

"No, no, I said I'm fine," I remarked, if a bit firm. Rick wouldn't have any of it.

"Claire, look at me. _Look_ at me," he pressured. He pushed my head up with his pointer finger. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I accented, pushing his hand away. I glanced over at Karen. She was standing in a group with Duke and Cliff, workers at the Aja Winery. Karen had always had a reputation around town for being an alcoholic. In fact, I could recall a time when I'd taken a trip to the Inn when they had all been there. Duke and Karen had been holding a drinking contest to see who could better hold their liquor. In the end, Karen won and Duke ended up spending most of his money on all of the beverages they consumed.

"Why are you acting so touchy today?" Rick said sternly, raising his voice.

"It's really none of your business," I commented, raising mine too. "I said I was just tired, okay? Is that not a good enough reason for you?"

"No, it's just that... you're acting so... so _strangely _toward me-"

"You know what? I'm out of here, Rick. I-I never should have come here. Obviously there was no way that I was going to have even a little bit of fun, especially with you prodding me around all the time." With my last words spoken, I stormed my way out of the square. I didn't really care if I was causing a commotion or not but I just wanted to get out of that place, even without my noodles. Once I reached home, I went into my refrigerator, pulled out a bag of Relaxation Tea, and boiled myself a serving. I put the cup to my lips and the taste tickled my taste buds. However, I didn't care if the name was just a metaphor - even after the last sip was gone, I still didn't feel relaxed. I flopped myself down on my bed. Warm tears made their way down my face, one after the other and I choked out a cry.

_What did Karen have that I didn't...?_

I started to reevaluate my past thoughts. The reason why Rick liked her was because they held so many memories that it was easy for them to get along. The reason why Won liked her was because she was beautiful and nice... and the reason why Duke liked her was because she could hold her liquor and was willing to have fun. Suddenly, an idea popped into my mind.

...I knew I had to get started on it right away.


End file.
